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2013-01-08 Home Front: Culture Wars
U.S. proposes minimum sounds for 'quiet cars'
[DETROITNEWS] The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing new rules to require minimum sound levels from electric vehicles, hybrids and other quiet cars to warn pedestrians.

NHTSA's proposal -- required by Congress in 2010 -- sets minimum sound levels for hybrid and electric vehicles to help make all pedestrians, especially visually impaired people, aware of approaching vehicles.

Electric and hybrid vehicles do not rely on traditional engines and at low speeds can be very difficult to hear.

NHTSA plans to phase in the new rules starting in the 2016 model year over three years. It expects the proposal will cost the auto industry about $23 million during the first year.

NHTSA estimates the cost of adding a speaker system to comply with the requirements to be around $35 per vehicle.

The new rules would also apply to electric motorcycles and heavy-duty vehicles.

NHTSA estimates the odds of a hybrid vehicle being involved in a pedestrian crash is 19 percent higher compared with traditional gas- or diesel-powered vehicles. For a bicycle crash, it's 38 percent higher.
Posted by Fred 2013-01-08 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11130 views ]  Top

#1 I wonder if this will be like the fleet mileage standards - some vehicles can be nearly silent just as long as enough others are really, really loud.
Posted by SteveS 2013-01-08 00:30||   2013-01-08 00:30|| Front Page Top

#2 To warn pedestrians which means Prius going below 15 mph or so. Seems reasonable and I'm surprised the Japanese didn't add that themselves.
Posted by rjschwarz 2013-01-08 00:48||   2013-01-08 00:48|| Front Page Top

#3 Not a bad idea. I have seen several new hybrid, 4 cylinder and electric cars that have been so quiet, if I wasn't watching I wouldn't have known they were there. After which I have always wondered why they didn't have those things make more noise.

On a related topic, good police and military vehicle to sneak up on a target building.
Posted by DarthVader 2013-01-08 01:10||   2013-01-08 01:10|| Front Page Top

#4 Don't fergit the Black Boxes = Cameras + Voice Recorders, etc. soon-to-be-mandatory devices.
Posted by JosephMendiola 2013-01-08 01:33||   2013-01-08 01:33|| Front Page Top

#5 Now while I reeeeally don't like the idea of data-recording devices being required by the Feds, the idea of a noisemaker on a Toyota Prius or Nissan Leaf electric drive makes sense. There are a LOT of these things on the streets of Seattle where I walk to & from work daily, and I've learned to make a special effort to look for them, especially when walking from the office during the fall & winter.
Posted by Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) 2013-01-08 02:00||   2013-01-08 02:00|| Front Page Top

#6 I have the solution...
Posted by tu3031 2013-01-08 02:06||   2013-01-08 02:06|| Front Page Top

#7 You could generally hear a... clunker coming.
Posted by Besoeker 2013-01-08 04:22||   2013-01-08 04:22|| Front Page Top

#8 Either a sound like Fred McMurrays flubber powered Model T or a Ferrari 365GBT4/A
Posted by Shipman 2013-01-08 05:17||   2013-01-08 05:17|| Front Page Top

#9 My Smart Car is so quiet I often sneak up on people.
Posted by Deacon Blues 2013-01-08 07:24||   2013-01-08 07:24|| Front Page Top

#10 Or replace the hood ornament with a Van de Graaf generator to give nearby pedestrians and bicyclists powerful electric shocks.
Posted by SteveS 2013-01-08 07:30||   2013-01-08 07:30|| Front Page Top

#11 Cowbells! It's even eco-friendly!
Posted by CrazyFool 2013-01-08 07:39||   2013-01-08 07:39|| Front Page Top

#12 

If the proposal for minimum sounds passes into law, these guys have a chance of "customizing your sound".
Posted by Au Auric 2013-01-08 10:05||   2013-01-08 10:05|| Front Page Top

#13 When gas gets up to around $4.00 per gallon, my entire fleet gets very, very quiet.
Posted by Besoeker 2013-01-08 10:53||   2013-01-08 10:53|| Front Page Top

#14 
Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2013-01-08 11:55||   2013-01-08 11:55|| Front Page Top

#15 I imagine the sound the cars made in the Jetsons cartoon.

bebebebebebebebebebebebe
Posted by Hellfish 2013-01-08 12:14||   2013-01-08 12:14|| Front Page Top

#16 Forget rngtns, there's a real market here. Prius: flivver. Leaf: slipping fan belt.
Posted by KBK 2013-01-08 12:35||   2013-01-08 12:35|| Front Page Top

#17 There are some things you cannot say on the Burg. :-)
Posted by KBK 2013-01-08 12:36||   2013-01-08 12:36|| Front Page Top

#18 Whaddabout the noise pollution? Now wwe'll have upper and LOWER limits?

How about the increase in carbon footprint and corresponding reduction in mpg? The energy to make the noise ultimately comes out of the gas tank.
Posted by Bobby 2013-01-08 12:56||   2013-01-08 12:56|| Front Page Top

#19 Maybe they could have a guy walk ahead of the car, ringing a bell...
Posted by Muggsy Mussolini1226 2013-01-08 16:07||   2013-01-08 16:07|| Front Page Top

#20 So now they want a whine for their cheesy cars?
Posted by BrerRabbit 2013-01-08 18:40||   2013-01-08 18:40|| Front Page Top

#21  So now they want a whine for their cheesy cars?

We have a winner!
Posted by SteveS 2013-01-08 18:42||   2013-01-08 18:42|| Front Page Top

#22 Out of the ballpark, BreRabbit.
Posted by Deacon Blues 2013-01-08 18:45||   2013-01-08 18:45|| Front Page Top

#23 Golf clap, Brer Rabbit. ;-p
Posted by Barbara 2013-01-08 19:13||   2013-01-08 19:13|| Front Page Top

#24 Wire wheels. With playing cards (or baseball cards) clothespinned to the fenders.
Posted by Glenmore 2013-01-08 19:37||   2013-01-08 19:37|| Front Page Top

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